


Hidden in the Desert Sands

by politicalmamaduck



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M, Kylo is the princess, One Shot, Reylo Fanfiction Anthology, The Princess in the Suit of Leather, The Princess in the Suit of Leather AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-26
Updated: 2016-09-26
Packaged: 2018-08-17 10:52:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8141213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/politicalmamaduck/pseuds/politicalmamaduck
Summary: The prince ran away from home, and found himself in the desert. A scavenger's kindness reveals more than scrap metal buried under the sands.





	

The prince ran away from home. 

Some said a betrothal was arranged for him, and that he could not fathom an arranged marriage to a foreign royal. Some said he had a vicious temper and murdered his own father. Some said he was frightened by his family’s dark history, filled with violence and war. 

Whatever the cause, one night the palace went to bed, and the next morning, Prince Ben of Alderaan was gone. 

His uncle, a wise lord, set out to search for him, and he too disappeared, leaving behind only a fragment of a map. 

All those in the city wept for the loss of their handsome prince, save the beggars on the street corners, the lost, and the mad. 

Six years passed, and no one had seen the prince since the night he vanished without a trace. 

…

“My name is Kylo,” said the beggar. 

“My name is Kylo, my mask is heavy.

It keeps me well, though my burdens are many.

I was taught not to fear;

I care for no one, far or near.”

The beggar named Kylo wandered the docks, seeking for alms from every ship that came into port, bringing luxuries and necessities for the people of Princess Leia’s city. Most of the sailors shuddered at the sight of him, frightened by his haggard appearance in leather robes of deepest black. The beggar never seemed to be bothered by the sun beating down from overhead, even though no one could see his face, covered as it was by a heavy mask. His visage was altogether unsettling, even for those who passed him every day and were accustomed to hearing his rumbling poem as he asked for a few coins. What he did with the meager coins he received, no one could say. The days passed under the bright sun, until one hot, starry evening, the beggar disappeared.

There was no one to lament his absence, no one to wonder where a masked beggar in a suit of leather would go or could have gone.

…

The prince had felt abandoned his entire life, never receiving the affection he so desperately craved from his overburdened royal mother and his dashing, absent sailor father. 

He turned his face away from his mother’s city, and putting one foot before the other, the beggar named Kylo went out into the desert, to the wasteland called Jakku. 

As a boy, he had heard tales of his parents’ and uncle’s exploits, fighting daring battles against foreign powers. His uncle had sought to recreate the mythical Jedi Order, telling him tales of puissant warriors of old, who could call upon the world around them to do their bidding. 

Kylo had that power, too, inherited from his mother, except she preferred to put her great strength and wisdom to use in rebuilding the nation of her adopted family. 

In his possession, he had a ring which had belonged to his grandfather and was passed down to his uncle, then to him. He felt it calling to the desert and hoped that it would help him find his own destiny, like his grandfather and his uncle before him. 

As the day turned to night, and the stars dotted the sky, he crept away with as much stealth and speed as he could muster. 

…

Niima Outpost was the largest hub of activity in the desert. It lay on the other side of the Goazon Badlands from a small village of refugees eking out a hard life, known as Tuanul. Master Unkar Plutt was as harsh as the sun, demanding more and more from his slaves and indentured servants each day. They plundered tombs, scavenged ships that had the misfortune to wreck along the only river, and committed petty acts of violence and larceny to earn just enough food and water to survive. 

Rey was one of Master Plutt’s best scavengers; she had been her whole life, since the master had practically raised her. She had never known a life other than one spent going out into the desert wasteland to look for scraps of metal; she had few memories of her birth parents or her arrival in the desert. 

She counted the days, one by one, on the wall of her shack, praying to the gods each day that the next would be when her family returned for her. She longed for a home the way the bristling shrubs she passed each day longed for water. Until then, her days elapsed much the same. She scavenged in the blistering heat, traded her haul in to Master Plutt for dinner portions, returned home, ate, and fell asleep while looking at the stars, waiting for her life to change. 

 

Rey had never expected to find a man slowly trudging through the desert all alone, without an escort or a beast to bear his burden. He was tall, wearing heavy robes of black leather, his face covered by a mask. It was a startling sight; no one traveled in a desert in such apparel. He looked to be on the verge of collapse, carrying just a small canteen for water. It was clear he had been ill-prepared for his journey.

“Who are you? Where do you come from? Come, let’s find you some water,” she said. 

He said nothing in response to her questions until she brought him to Niima Outpost. When presented to Master Plutt, all he said was: 

“My name is Kylo, my mask is heavy.

It keeps me well, though my burdens are many.

I was taught not to fear;

I care for no one, far or near.”

Master Plutt had a hearty good laugh at that, and told Rey to take an extra skin to set up a small tent for the pathetic man. 

“He will provide us with amusement,” said the master, “and perhaps he may be of some use to us.”

And so Rey set up a tent for the man in the suit of leathers, and paid him daily visits before she set out to ply her trade in the unforgiving sun. She smiled at him sadly each time he repeated his rhyme to her, and her heart ached for his pitiful state, particularly when the junk boss set him to work.  

In addition to forcing him to help the scavengers carry in their plunder, when Master Plutt became bored waiting for the laborers to return from scavenging, he called for Kylo to repeat his rhyme and entertain him. 

 

The days continued in like manner, until Master Plutt’s motley crew of scavengers and ruffians were pressed into welcoming a wealthy trader passing through Niima Outpost on his way to a distant land. They returned to their ramshackle homes early, and for once the master was generous enough to provide them all with adequate water to bathe and wash their clothing. A large tent was prepared to host the gathering, where meats would be roasted and all those scraping by in the desert would be welcome. 

On his way to his place of honor, Master Plutt noticed Kylo’s small tent, and made his way over to bid the strange man to join the festivities. By way of response, Kylo repeated his usual rhyme. 

“My name is Kylo, my mask is heavy.

It keeps me well, though my burdens are many.

I was taught not to fear;

I care for no one, far or near.”

“Suit yourself,” said the junk boss, who turned his back on the beggar and headed to the party.

As soon as Kylo had seen the last of him, he quickly pulled off his mask and dark leather suit, and pulled treasures out of his pockets and from hidden places in his tent. He could feel that something would come to pass here; he could feel his grandfather’s ring pulsing every time the young woman passed by his tent and smiled her sad smile. Who she was, he had no idea. But he knew his fate was somehow tied with hers, and now he needed to know why before he could return to his mother’s city. 

 

The wealthy trader reclined at table at Master Plutt’s right hand while the laborers mixed and mingled around them, differences and rivalries put aside in honor of a night free from work and worry. The volume of talk in the tent rose as cheeks became ruddy from drink and high spirits. Rey was quietly sitting in a corner of the tent by herself, nursing a watered down goblet, when suddenly a person entered the tent. All fell silent; food, drink, and conversations were forgotten as everyone stopped to stare at the newcomer. 

He stood taller than nearly everyone in the tent, with skin as white as milk and rich, rosy lips, both unharmed by Jakku’s wicked sun. He wore a king’s ransom in black silk robes, a jeweled sword at his hip. 

After being so startled at his appearance, the more rowdy and violent of those who served Lord Plutt (as he was styling himself for the evening) began to fight amongst themselves for the honor to pour the late arrival a goblet of clear water or acidic wine. Plutt himself put an end to the squabbling when he beckoned the young lord to recline at table with himself and the wealthy trader. 

The night passed, with all whispering about the handsome man who had so suddenly appeared at the feast. As the dawn approached, and yawns became audible through the chatter, Kylo tossed out a handful of gold coins from under his fine robes. While Master Plutt’s guests were tearing themselves apart in an attempt to keep the coins, he stalked back to his tent and donned his dark mask and black leathers, curling up on himself and falling asleep for a short time. They had reacted as he thought they would, save for the beautiful young woman. He needed another opportunity to ascertain why the ring called to her; she was certainly unlike anyone else in this godforsaken place, the only one who seemed to genuinely care for the man in the suit of leathers. 

 

When the noonday sun was high in the sky, Master Plutt stopped by Kylo’s tent once more. 

“You should have come to the party last night, my boy,” he bellowed. “I got a fat gold coin from an outlander for my trouble. It will pay for more than just the party!” But Kylo only mumbled through his mask, “My name is Kylo, my mask is heavy…” and the junk boss moved on to check a slave’s haul. 

As she worked that day, Rey moved as if she were in a dream. The stranger’s face ghosted through her memories; he was not traditionally handsome, but so unlike any man she had seen before. His hair had framed his sharp features in dark waves, and appeared to be far softer than her own, which was always pulled back and baked by the sun. 

When Rey brought her cargo to the boss for her portions, her mind was not at all present as he examined each piece. 

“My girl,” he said. “If only you could steal as well as that outlander has clearly stolen your mind! Everyone seems to fancy him, and no one even knows his name! Bet he’d fetch a price as pretty as he is at market.” He chortled, enjoying trying to get a rise out of her. 

Rey only scowled in reply, clutching her portions to her chest. As she walked away, she overheard Master Plutt telling one of his guards that he planned to have another night of entertainment the following evening, in the hopes of catching the mysterious rich young man from the night before. “We’ll wait by the door; he won’t get past us, boss!” he hurried to assure the master. 

 

As she walked away, Rey knew she couldn’t let Unkar Plutt’s thugs attack and rob the handsome young man. She rushed home, quickly eating every morsel of her small meal, and began to formulate a plan to protect the wealthy stranger from her boss’s clutches. 

 

She was again distracted through her work the next day, and practically raced back to Niima Outpost to clean off and turn in her haul in record time. She scrubbed herself again too, until her skin was pink from her ministrations. She made sure her staff was in good condition and stretched her limbs so that she could fight Plutt’s goons if need be. She could not allow them to harm the young man. He had done nothing to deserve their brutality. 

The night passed much the same as the prior feast. The guests swarmed the poor visitor, seeking to ask him impertinent questions about the lands away from Jakku. Rey did not dare approach him. She seethed with anger, seeing the way Plutt’s guards watched the young lord like a hawk. They seemed as eager to gobble him and his riches up as they did the sizzling roasts and dried fruits heaped on platters around them. Rey had never been party to such delicacies before these two nights, and it made her all the more angry that Plutt and his cronies lived so well while the slaves and scavengers suffered. 

As dawn approached, and yawns began to echo throughout the tent, Rey saw the guards slipping out to watch the doorway. She followed them, without another soul’s notice. Plutt’s two strongest guards were having a loud conversation, laughing and slapping each other on the back, predicting an easy assault on the young lord. 

They didn’t hear Rey sneaking up behind them until she clubbed them both on the back of the head with her staff. They fell to the sand like sacks full of scrap from a wreck, clutching at their skulls. She held her staff out before her and above them, daring them to move any further. The guard to the right lunged for her, and she jabbed him in the face with the end of her staff, breaking his nose in the process. His companion yelled at her, trying to pick himself up from the sand. He received the butt of her staff to his large stomach for his efforts, tumbling back down to the sand like his compatriot, clutching his belly and moaning. 

The lord emerged from the tent shortly thereafter and noted the two groaning guards with Rey looming over them. 

“My lord,” she said, bowing deeply. “These two belong to Master Plutt; they were going to rob you as you exited the tent. I fear much worse will happen to you the longer you remain here. Please leave this place, for there are many more who would do you harm for jealousy of your wealth.” 

Kylo looked at Rey, knowing her to be a strong young woman, beautiful despite the many hardships she had been through, proud and unafraid, and realized that he had fallen in love with her the moment he met her. 

“You have done me a great kindness; I owe you my life,” he said, and she admired him all the more after hearing his deep voice and eloquent manner of speaking. “What is your name?” he asked.

“Rey,” she said. “I am no one, my lord.” She was bold enough to meet his eyes, despite how loudly she could hear her heart pounding. 

“Rey,” he said, and reached for her hand. Uncertainly, she extended it to him. He handed her a ring, a band of thick gold set with a deep blue stone of lapis lazuli. As soon as it touched her skin, she could feel great power within it. A light flashed before her, showing her glimpses of warriors going into battle, bearing swords like Kylo’s. She felt overwhelmed, as though she was in another time and place altogether. 

“This is an heirloom of my family,” he said, drawing her back to the present. “It has great power, and should be worn by one as worthy as you.” 

“My lord, I cannot accept this,” she replied, making to hand it back to him. 

He shook his head, and closed her hand over the ring. “It calls to you,” he said, cryptically, then walked away from her into the desert night. 

Rey turned away with tears in her eyes, profoundly affected and unable to touch or look at the lord’s gift. She felt as though her heart would burst, and later hid it in her small home.

After she had settled herself down for the night, she steeled herself for the consequences she knew she would have to face for her actions. 

 

She started the next day’s work like any other, making sure to keep plenty of distance between herself and the other scavengers or Plutt’s henchmen. She dreaded returning with her takings to Niima Outpost, knowing Master Plutt would be furious about how she had foiled his attempt to assault the lord. Yet she had to, in order to earn enough food and water to survive another day, and she had made quite a find that day, one she knew would net her enough portions to make it through lean times, one she for which she simply had to get fair payment before any of the other scavengers could try to steal it from her.  

When she did make it back to the outpost, few of the other scavengers or slaves were around. Plutt stood behind his stand, leering around at his guards and the few who remained, with Kylo rattling nearby. 

Rey held her shoulders high as she approached, dragging her pack with her. 

She didn’t see one of Plutt’s cronies, who was hidden behind Kylo’s tent and snuck up on her from behind, seizing her and holding a knife to her throat. 

She struggled to shake his hold on her, grasping at the hand holding the knife. “How do you like it?” he gloated at her. “Sneaking up on someone from behind and attacking them, eh? The boss lost a lot of money last night because of you, and no one knows where the lordling has gone! There’s hell to pay, and you’re going to pay it!” He pulled her along towards the boss, who was chortling at Rey’s predicament. His other guards fanned out around them, clutching weapons and leering at her. 

None of them paid any attention to the beggar Kylo standing in his spot by Plutt’s stand. 

“You’re going to regret this,” Rey managed to spit out. “I will kill you all.” She continued to kick and scratch at the guard holding her as best she could, wishing desperately for her staff or even the lord’s magical ring. 

“No, I think you’re the one who’s going to regret your interference last night,” boomed Plutt, to the laughter of his associates. Rey kept struggling, knowing she could easily defeat the guard holding her once she was clear of his knife. 

 

Kylo abandoned his leather disguise beside Plutt’s junk stand and grabbed his sword. He had known this would happen, and while he might not have been the lord she thought he was, but rather a prince who turned his back on his people, he would not allow Rey to be beaten and injured by desert bandits. 

Kylo spotted one of Plutt’s guards on Rey’s left, coming towards her with a long pike. He aimed to kill, swinging at Rey in a mockery of what she had done with her staff the previous night, but instead of meeting Rey’s soft skin, it met metal with a resounding clang.

“What the--” the guard yelled, stumbling back with force and shock, and turned to see the lord he had attempted to rob, his face in a vicious snarl, sword raised. He swung sloppily, and opened himself to the slash of Kylo’s sword, which took him across the chest. Attempting to control his rage, Kylo spun around with his sword, positioning himself to attack the onslaught of Plutt’s guards. 

With the handsome lord providing a distraction, Rey was finally able to break free from the guard holding the knife to her neck. She twisted his wrist, stealing the knife away from him, and slashed at him with it. As soon as he was subdued, she raced back to where she had left her things and grabbed her staff, charging at the remaining guards. Plutt remained safely behind his stand, cowering and alternately yelling insults at his useless goons, Rey, and the handsome young man. 

Before long, Kylo and Rey had defeated all of the guards, and Plutt himself ran away, skulking back to his home. 

“My lord, where did you come from?” Rey asked, breathlessly. He shook his head, gesturing with his blood-coated sword to the abandoned pile of skins next to the destruction of Plutt’s stand. 

“I was here the whole time, Rey,” he said, wiping his sword off and sheathing it. Having done so, he took her hands in his own. “You brought me back to myself and saved me. I could never let them harm you.” She looked at the suit of leathers, then up at him, her mouth agape. Before she could ask him any further questions, he trailed his thumb across her lower lip, then gently kissed her cheek. “I abandoned my home and family many years ago. I lost my way, unsure of my own destiny, feeling unworthy and unloved. The ring I gave you had been my grandfather’s; he was a great and powerful warrior, adept in the magical arts, and I sought to obtain glory like he did. I failed, and resorted to hiding my identity. I sought to find my destiny by following the ring. It led me to you, and now I know why.” 

He smiled at her, and she felt her stomach flutter. 

They kissed, holding hands as the desert sun went down. 

  
The following week, Prince Ben of Alderaan returned to his mother’s city, with a beautiful bride by his side. He was gladly accepted back to his rightful place as his mother’s right hand by the people of the city, and he and Rey lived happily ever after. 

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2016 Reylo Fanfiction Anthology. Huge thank you to the-dark-becomes-you for being an incredible artist collaborator!  
> Many thanks as always to my beta Desiree for her help and my best friend Amanda for her support. A very special thank you to Mods Viv, Mer, and Mneme for being my mod editors!   
> Comments and constructive feedback always appreciated. You can find me at politicalmamaduck.tumblr.com!


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